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Stolen wheelchair, car belonging to Calgary athlete returned

A stolen car and a custom wheelchair have been returned to a Calgary athlete heading to his first tryouts for the Canadian Paralympic basketball team next month.

Dalten Campbell’s modified vehicle, with a custom-built wheelchair inside, was stolen from his apartment parkade in southeast Calgary on the weekend.

After pleading for whoever stole it to at least leave it on the side of a road, Calgary Police Service called him on Tuesday.

“I was contacted around 10:30 this morning by a constable with the Calgary Police Service to inform me that a pastor of a Crescent Heights church had found my vehicle parked behind his place of worship and promptly parked his vehicle in front of it in case the perpetrator were to return and proceeded to contact the police,” he told 660 NEWS in a statement.

“Words really cannot convey how grateful I am to have been able to rely on your assistance and the assistance of the community of Calgary as a whole!”

Pastor John Huh noticed the car at the Crescent Heights Baptist Church on Monday and heard Campbell’s story on the radio. He saw the web story on 660 NEWS when he got home and realized it was the stolen vehicle.

“He was ecstatic,” Huh said of telling Campbell the good news. “He was very happy to get his car and his wheelchair back. Good luck to him and his trials.”

Campbell, who is paraplegic, is heading to an identification camp in Toronto at the end of the July. It’s a major step to getting a spot on the national team.

He said the wheelchair has been adjusted over the last year to fit his body and without a replacement chair, he still would have a major disadvantage with Canada’s best basketball players.